Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

This Friday, Jan 26th I will be speaking about living with anxiety challenges and mental health for Creative Mornings. I HATE anxiety. Hate it. But my love for stopping mental health stigma by sharing my story is stronger. I'll also talk about facing our normal, everyday anxieties.

Registration opens this Monday at 11am. They go quick so make sure you sign up ASAP.

Beautiful, Brown and Baring it All: Rihanna and Venus Williams

Remember when pop star Rihanna caught some flack for the sheer gown she wore to the CFDA Awards? The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) honored her with the 2014 Style Icon Award. Some people thought she looked tacky for baring it all under the glittery fabric. I know I’m late to commenting on her attire but I thought she was stunning. Yes it was sexy. Yes it was revealing. But it was a sophisticated sexy. People called her trashy, but a trashy woman could not have pulled this off.

What I loved most about what Rihanna wore, was her attitude. Some people who were offended questioned why do female celebrities feel the need to show so much skin. And I can understand that argument. But Rihanna wore that gown and owned it. There was no apology in her eyes. You can see the pride in her smile and she knew she rocked the hell out of that gown.

She also wore it in tribute to Josephine Baker, whose birthday was around that time. Baker opened the door for black women to have that type of sensual expression under their own definition. Also, Rihanna wasn’t the first. Late actress Pearl Bailey did it back in the day. Cher has gone sheer too. If I was a young, successful pop star with a body like Rihanna’s, I would wear it to.

Actress Pearl Bailey beautiful and bare.

As I tweeted, i think people have more of a problem with Rihanna with her being unapologetic about her sensuality than what she wore. The same thing applies to Beyonce. I don’t agree with everything on her latest album, but I can see that she’s owning her sexuality and body more. Some people don't want to see Beyonce doing that. We forget that people are sexual beings too.

Venus Williams carries her name well. She’s definitely a tennis goddess. But like the Roman goddess of love, beauty and sex who shares her name—Venus Williams embodied all of that in her photos from this year’s ESPN Body Issue. Venus looks AMAZING! She made me proud of my chocolate skin and bootyliciousness. She’s 34 and 6’1. I love it! There's a great interview with her on ESPN.com about her sport, the shoot and living with Sjogren's syndrome. I find it interesting that Venus hasn’t received the same amount of criticism as Rihanna. I don’t know if feel people differently because she’s an athlete or her sister Serena Williams posed a few years ago.

Venus Williams is a goddess for this ESPN Body Issue.
Pick up the magazine in stores now.

I’ve studied black erotica and black sexuality for some time. And sometimes when artists pose like this, the criticism that arises is that the women are being exploited or fetishized. Jada Pinkett-Smith received similar critique when she posted a gorgeous nude photo of herself on Facebook. But that’s not always the case. In all of these instances I listed, these women are celebrating their bodies and sensuality. And think that’s okay to celebrate our bodies. That goes for women of all races. Big, small, tall, short, old, young, limited ability or athletic—it’s okay to honor our bodies.It’s okay to honor one of the Creator’s best artwork—the human body.

Comments

Post a Comment

BlogHer Ads

Popular Posts

While I was sick and shut in with the flu, I lived on Hulu
when it didn’t hurt to keep my eyes open. I finally saw Frida, the 2002 film about the revolutionary Mexican artist Frida
Kahlo (1907-1954). I wasn’t crazy about the script but Salma Hayek was awesome
as Frida Kahlo.
The first time I saw Frida Kahlo’s work was in college. My
boss at the time had her art in his office. Honestly, I was a bit repulsed and
uncomfortable with her work. She painted her imperfections and her pain so
vividly. Frida was seriously injured in a bus accident while a teenager and had
many surgeries on her back. I could feel her intensity and sense her pain
looking at her photos. He facial hair and stern unibrowed glare scared me. A
woman viewing her facial flaws as art? Then there were the images of blood,
scissors, thorns etc. in her body.
"I
never painted dreams. I painted my own reality,” she once said.

You know how folks say “Do you”? That was how Frida lived
her life. She lived by her own rul…

Last week I posted my interview with Don't Bring Home A White Boy author Karyn LanghorneFolan. We had a nice, long interview. One thing that came up was courting. Folan shares in her book that she wasn't sure her husband Kevin was into her when they first started dating. Kevin drove 30 miles every weekend to see Karyn, took her to pricey restaurants, paid for everything and was great company. Usually the dates ended with a nice hug, maybe a handshake. No, kissy, touchy or feely was going on. We're not talking the 1960s but just six years ago. Race aside, Karyn, like many of women, was used to guys feeling entitled to the VIP bedroom pass because they spent money on her. Yep. Some men equate movie tickets and dinner with getting the panties. I went on one date with a guy who thought a glass of wine and a few appetizers meant sexual healing was on the way. Well, it dawned on Karyn that she was being courted. Here's what she told me in our interview: READ MORE